The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

Tao Xian called out to Lin Du, but it was Xia Tianwu, who hadn't said a word to him from beginning to end, who actually made the move.

Xia Tian held the jade buckle at her waist, but instead drew a soft sword with a chilling gleam, much like her own personality.

But then, the light that had been gathering in the air like a dragon was suddenly sizzling. The frost that Lin Du had left in the room hadn't completely melted away, and the mist in the air was boiling over as if it had landed on a hot iron pot.

Lin Du did not move. Her spiritual sense far surpassed that of ordinary people, but that did not mean she could arbitrarily extract it when examining someone's soul.

Moreover, this is a mortal, so one must be even more careful when checking the condition of a soul to avoid injuring the person.

What broke through the soil was none other than vines.

Under the light, the eerily green vines, still carrying a bit of dust, broke through the bricks and stones, causing them to shatter and scatter the resulting rubble like raindrops all over the ground.

Summer has only had that strange fire for a few years. Although the smelting is not yet perfect and he can't do very delicate work, he is more than capable of handling things. It was clearly a soft sword, and he hooked and wrapped it around a vine while twirling it.

Tao Xian saw this scene out of the corner of his eye and was about to say how this skill could stop that evil thing when he saw the woman withdraw her hand. The moment the soft sword wrapped around the vine was pulled out, a circle of thin fire ignited. Although the vine was a living thing and could not be lit, it was pierced open and the cut surface burned out a piece of withered yellow.

When he swung his sword, that thing hadn't been severed so cleanly and had quickly sprouted new branches. But after Xia Tianwu's intervention, it didn't regenerate.

Although he knew that the Supreme Sect did not support idlers, he still found it outrageous.

The pregnant woman on the bed opened her eyes in a panic, repeatedly saying, "The moon goddess has come, the moon goddess has come to punish me."

Lin Du turned his head expressionlessly and saw the two people fighting with swords against the constantly sprouting new vines. Then he suddenly walked straight out.

Instead of using the door, she opened the nearest window, pushed off with one hand, and jumped out, leaving behind a handful of dark, misshapen pills.

Lin Du went straight into the well, slowly channeled his spiritual energy, poured it all into the pill, and threw it all into the moon well in the middle.

The handful of pills seemed to have been scattered casually, but when they fell into the air, they all landed on the vines, and none of them fell into the well.

It's just like a reckless kid during Chinese New Year who dares to throw anything in with firecrackers.

A huge explosion rang out, shattering the vines into pieces and sending countless green branches flying into the sky. However, the air was not filled with the smoke of the explosion, but with the aroma of various herbs.

The scorching fire elemental energy rushed towards him. Lin Du held his breath, and seemingly casually raised the hand holding the folding fan, then knocked away the broken branch that had been blasted into the air.

Moonlight vines can regenerate after being cut, but now the vines by the well have been blasted to pieces by Lin Du, so they will have to see where they grow back.

Lin Du suddenly noticed that a section of vine had been knocked back. In an instant, his skin tensed up, and spiritual energy surged from his dantian. He turned his head to look, but there was no one there.

Despite such a commotion, not a single person came out.

Lin Du suddenly realized something. "Who? Is it Seventh Senior Sister?"

"Your seventh senior sister probably can't set up such a large barrier. With such a commotion, and no one helping you block out the noise, you'd probably be beaten to the ground by the whole village right now."

The space rippled slightly, and a person who should never have been here stood calmly amidst the vines and corpses, still wearing a bamboo hat. Apart from his sky-blue monk's robe, he did not resemble a monk at all.

Lin Du suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, then picked up his breath again, "What are you doing here?"

They have no respect for elders and don't even call people by their names anymore.

Wei Zhi didn't speak. He walked up to Lin Du, and a scepter appeared in his hand. With a snap, a golden light flashed, and he forcefully pressed down the vines that had just sprouted new buds.

Lin Du: ...Can it be like this?

She suddenly noticed something, "Your demonic markings..."

It has spread again.

It was much larger than when we first met, like a wildly growing vine, now with delicate red veins extending below the hem.

Wei Zhi hummed in agreement, "There's no other way. It takes time to digest a dragon and suppress its demonic energy."

He was remarkably calm, as if nothing had happened. Lin Du didn't want to pay him any attention and turned to look at the true roots of the vine.

"The roots are also underground throughout the entire village, covering everything."

He spoke up to warn, "If you want to uproot it, the village will be gone."

"Is this why they can't leave the village?" Lin Du knew that Wei Zhi and Lin Tuan were probably related, so he wasn't as wary as last time.

"More or less." Wei Zhi paused, then turned to look at Lin Du. "The person we caught last time pointed this way, so I came to check."

Lin Du frowned slightly, his mind racing. "But..."

"It's not that this place was created by that person, it's that he once advanced here." Wei Zhi could tell from her frown that this person was about to have a lot of things on her mind.

"It's strange, isn't it? The Concealing Heavenly Secrets technique has successfully advanced." He smiled, a hint of self-deprecation on his face. "So I came to see how they conceal the heavenly secrets. This thing is useful to me."

He bluntly stated his purpose, afraid that Lin Du would ask again, "What benefit will it bring you?"

Lin Du asked again, "What kind of evil thing is this vine?"

"It's not an evil thing. Didn't you notice how full of vitality and spiritual energy this vine has? How could it be an evil thing? It's more like a spiritual thing." Wei Zhi answered her question in a very good-natured way. After all, it's normal for children to be curious.

He paused for a moment, then said, "You are a formation master. I don't know how far Yan Ye has taught you, but the feng shui of this village has been revitalized because of this vine."

Lin Du nodded. "I know that."

"But you could also call it an evil entity," Wei Zhi said, changing the subject, "because it continuously drains the villagers' life force."

Lin Du had already figured it out: "It wasn't inherently an evil object, but the person using it is a heretical cultivator?"

Wei Zhi slammed the incense board down again, and this time, the newly sprouted vines were instantly turned into a fine mist.

Lin Du roughly knew what this thing was; it was called an incense board, but it was actually a ruler. He truly deserved to be called a good teacher.

Wei Zhi looked down at the child and said, "It is the vine's instinct to absorb spiritual energy and draw life force because it needs to grow. If it is planted in a person's body, it will become an evil thing even if it is not evil."

"The fruit of the Moonlight Vine." Lin Du had already figured it out.

The village was originally situated by mountains and water, seemingly with excellent feng shui, but it was still a dead land. Only with the well as a lifeline and the moonlight vine as a spiritual energy source did this beautiful place come to life.

But the people behind this are obviously not doing charity work; the village will have to pay a price.

The price is human life and freedom.

The men ate the fruit, becoming offerings of life, while the women became tools for reproduction.

Like cattle and sheep raised in enclosures, bulls eat meat, and cows give birth to calves.

"But... why is it the life force of men... and what about those women chosen by the moon goddess?"

Lin Du frowned, when suddenly a laughing voice rang out above her head, and the ruler fell on her forehead. "Why do you always frown at such a young age? Thinking so much. Look, you're even getting gray hairs."

She was taken aback, and subconsciously retorted, "You don't have any hair."

……

Wei Zhi withdrew his hand, then turned to the side and struck down hard with the board again. This time, not only the sprouting vines and new branches cracked, but the ground and well also split open.

Lin Du's voice weakened, "A monk doesn't lie, how could I possibly have white hair?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Wei Zhiqi chuckled, raising his hand to scoop up water from the Moon Well and make a mirror. "Take a look at the back of your head. Isn't it white hair? You can't exactly say you dyed it yourself with frost, can you?"

He was afraid the child wouldn't be able to see, so he also made a water mirror behind her head. The moonlight fell down, making the water mirror look somewhat hazy and misty.

Lin Du still noticed a lifeless strand of white hair peeking out from beneath the neatly styled bun on the left side of his head.

It's terribly ugly.

"Actually, it's not bad-looking...it's even kind of...quite cute," Wei Zhidan said, breaking the water mirror. Afraid the child would be discouraged, he offered words of comfort, "It's just to tell you not to think so much at such a young age..."

Lin Du murmured, "I think it's these vines that have drained the life out of my hair."

She turned her head, stared at the vines, and said in a chilling tone, "It's better to remove them."

Wei Zhi: Who exactly is the heretical cultivator...?

This kid is clearly overusing his brain. Why doesn't he look for the cause within himself?

Wei Zhi's expression suddenly hardened as he looked at the well, which had clearly cracked earlier but was now completely intact.

This stone... holds a secret.

He wondered why this village, which made deals with the "evil god," hadn't been discovered by the Heavenly Dao—it turned out to be the material for this array's core.

Otherwise, the child would not have noticed when the vines burst open, revealing the stone and dispelling the aura of the Sky-Mending Stone.

He glanced at the child, who was about to frown again, and said, "Alright, I'll remove these vines."

It's impossible for Lin Du to remove the vines that cover the entire village all by himself.